


Story Ideas/Unfinished Works/Scrapped Ideas

by BlueOranges



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Don’t worry bout the OC tag there’s no OC x canon, F/F, F/M, Gay, I’ll add more ships as I go, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Random & Short, depressing shit, just sexual stuffs that make psychological hurt go brrrr, lol, might take suggestions for what to write, no not lemons, not really I’ll revisit them later, sensitive topics, sexual stuffs that’s baaad, uhh, uhh some vent stuff I won't finish, uhhhhh idk what else, very gay, yeet, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:53:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 13,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23680372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueOranges/pseuds/BlueOranges
Summary: Basically imma just shove unfinished work in here and first drafts of published stories and keep adding along the way....don’t expect masterpieces some of these are less than 100 words lol-
Relationships: Aloha/Army/Mask/Skull (Splatoon), Aviators/Designer Headphones/Snorkel, Bobble/Red Sole, Emperor/Vintage, Poly S4
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43
Collections: CoroikaCollection





	1. Oh great...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poly S4
> 
> Mask never wanted a soulmate. So what happens if he gets three?

A soulmate. The person everyone looks forward to meeting. Well everyone except Mask. He’s always been on the edge about meeting his soulmate. Someone the universe randomly picked for you? Yeah, not his type of thing. Of course, you can imagine how horrified he was when he turned 14 and three timers appeared on his wrist. 

Did I not explain that part? My bad. When everyone turns 14, a timer will appear on their wrist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the very first draft of cut strings. The story was a lot different than how the final product came to be, but I still might use this idea for a less angst story.
> 
> But my version of soulmate aus (all varieties of them) are a bit different than traditional so it gets a bit tiring when I have to remember all of my own rules.


	2. Double Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I never officially wrote anything, but I just had the idea so I’ll put down bullet points

\- Aviators x Designer x Scuba  
\- Poly, obviously  
\- Was going to start with Scuba needing a tutor  
\- Aviators also needed a tutor (this was in my mind long before You’re Cute Avi)  
\- Designer is a smart kid, gets his homework done fast and right so he can play video games  
\- Scuba and Aviators first fight with painfully bad flirting (idk how to flirt) for Designer  
\- both decide to share  
\- Designer is just a precious bab who wants to play video games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still thinking of writing this, just not sure to structure the story properly


	3. Ink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soulmate AU where if your partner writes something on their skin it appears on their soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote the base on how I wanted to start it wow-
> 
> Poly S4 btw

“Good game, guys.”

Skull nodded in approval to his teammates, who did the same back. Paisley grabbed her girlfriend’s hand.

“We’ll see you two at the house. We wanted to go to eat somewhere.”

Aviator pushed up his glasses a bit before waving at the two. Skull waved as well and made sure the girls were alright before turning towards his best friend.

“Candy store?”

Skull grinned underneath his bandana.

“Candy store.”

____

The amount of candy in the store enthralled Skull. Sure he came here almost every day, but it always felt like it was the first time. Aviator had his arms behind his head as he followed his leader around the store. Then something happened that made the H-3 nozzle nose user’s eyebrow raise.

‘Don’t forget to bring pizza.’

The words had just materialized on Skull’s arm. Aviator’s arms dropped to his sides.

“What the...Skull. Ya might wanna check your arm.”

The eliter main reluctantly put the bags filled with candy down and looked down at his arm. His eyes widened at the sight of the cyan words.

“Hold up.”

....

Mask put the cap of his felt pen back on and leaned back in his desk chair. He had an hour to kill before his team met up at Designer’s place. The group was going to do an Overwatch marathon together. Just for fun, though. Mask spun around before rolling towards his light switch. 

The masked inkling moved his gas mask to the side as he gazed around his dark room. The glow in the dark stars and planets lit up. Smiling to himself, Mask rolled over to his bed before throwing himself on it. He made fake constellations in his mind, something he used to do when he was younger. Everything was simpler then. 

Mask grabbed his phone and turned on Bluetooth before putting on some lofi off the hook and squid sisters. His speaker lowly played the tune of tide goes out. Mask stared up at his ceiling, not really sure of what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I were to continue writing this (I might) I’d make the beginning way different lol


	4. Stealing Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Army and Aloha are putting on their boyfriends’ clothes (including each other’s)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This idea is still in my mind, but idk how to write it haha-

“Army hurry up!!”

“I’m trying I’m trying! Don’t rush me!”

“Ooo use the crust wear XXL!”

“I suppose it’ll do...”

“It’s not like we’re going to a ball or something!”

The blaze rolled his eyes at the party king. The other was wearing Army’s jacket with Skull’s sweatpants. Quickly taking off his button up, Army threw on Mask’s Crustwear XXL. It reached his mid thigh and Aloha squealed at the sight.

“Love! You’re so cute!”

The pink inkling grabbed Army’s cheeks and squished them together. The drill sergeant pushed his hands away and huffed, a blush visible on his cheeks.

“Don’t do that.”

Aloha stuck his tongue out and grabbed the blaze’s hand before dragging him out of Mask’s room. The party king scurried towards his dream white drawers before throwing a pair of his own shorts at Army. 

“Put those on! They should be small enough for your waist. Unless you don’t wanna wear anything under that shirt of course~”

“E-eh?!”

Army jumped and a hugs blush covered his face in orange. Aloha chuckled and winked.

“Just kidding!”

The orange toned inkling pushed the other lightly.

“T-turn around!”

Aloha pouted, but complied.

“It’s not like I haven’t seen you before!”

Army bit his tongue as he finished changing out of his shorts and into Aloha’s. Army was the smallest of the S4 so naturally, the shorts were a bit loose. They still clung to his hips fine though. 

“You can turn around now.”

Aloha turned around and immediately blushed. Why in cod did Army have to be so cute?! Army waved a hand in front of Aloha. 

“Hello...?”

Blinking, Aloha said the only thing that came to mind:

“Kiss me.”

Army jumped back a bit, his face a blushing mess. 

“W-Wha- mhf!”

The party king had caught Army’s lips in a kiss, paralyzing the drill sergeant in shock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... would like to scrap the whole thing I already wrote and start anew-


	5. Kids?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeet Aviators x Designer x Scuba , BUT more focused on Aviators x Scuba.
> 
> The two were supposed to talk about what it’d be like to have kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeet

Scuba flopped onto the couch, unsure of what do to with himself. Aloha canceled a meeting with Team Pink in favor of spending much needed quality time with his own partners. Lucky squid. Scuba was by his lonesome at home.

His ears perked up at the noise of the front door and he quickly stood up. Finally someone was home.

“Scuba, Im home!”

Aviator’s voice made Scuba’s heart do a flip and the pink toned inkling rushed to wrap the other in his arms. Aviator was a bit shocked at the contact, but hugged back.

“What’s got you like this?”

Scuba shrugged. 

“Dunno. Just need some attention I guess...when’s Designer going to be home?”

Aviator pulled away from the hug, but still had his arms wrapped around the other. Scuba’s face fell a bit at the frown of the other. Aviator scratched the back of his neck with one hand.

“About that... Designer had to go visit his family back in Calamari County for a week.”

“What?!”

Aviator held onto his glasses as Scuba shook him violently. 

“Woah woah! Chill out!”

“Sorry...”

Scuba stopped shaking his boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to future self:  
> Make Scuba more chill...PLEASE-


	6. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vintage is sick, but refuses to go home. Omega has enough of his bs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FEEL LIKE I MAKE EMPEROR AND VINTAGE TOO OOC SINCE I HAVENT READ AFTER VOLUME 8-
> 
> Believe me I’ve tried to read the online version, smh the website kicks me out if I try to go past volume 8...it’s like it knows I’d rather have the physical copy...

“Hey Vin?”

“What?”

Double egg flinched at the sharp response, but loosened up when his leader sniffled. His leader’s health had been a bit of a restraint through out the day, but Vintage had refused to acknowledge his behavior. Not even after they almost lost a match from being too busy coughing up his insides! 

“Maybe ya should go home Vin. Ya haven’t been acting too well today.”

Vintage glared at the other before speaking through clenched teeth,

“Im perfectly fine. Thank you.”

Double Egg rolled his eyes as Vintage began coughing again. 

“Du-“

“Don’t.”

Double Egg bit his cheek, and noticed Omega and Red were coming back from Crusty’s. Maybe they could help convince the stubborn inkling. Double Egg stood up from his squatting position and pointed at Vintage with his thumb.

“Girls, tell this one he has to go home and get better.”

Vintage huffed and crossed his arms before looking away. Red Sole approached her leader before running around him and doing a quick examination.

“Yep yep! You gotta go home Vinny! You look like you’re catching a cold!”

“Don’t call me that and no. We need to keep climbing to get our power up.”

Red Sole kept pestering the other, who deflected her attempts. Double Egg turned to Omega, the only one who could knock some sense into Vintage. She had a mischievous glint in her eye, looking away from the group. Double Egg followed her gaze and noticed the golden toned tentacles. She wasn’t going to-

Omega started to walk over to the king. Double Egg sweat dropped. She was. 

Double Egg watched as she grabbed Emperor’s arm and dragged him away from Goggles and Rider. He seemed to be questioning her and struggling to free himself. Double Egg cracked a smile. Emperor managed to stop her and the two exchanged a few words. The blush on Emperor’s face raised an eyebrow. Soon the king stood in front of the three with Omega by his side.

“What is HE doing here?”

Vintage’s glare grew harsh. Emperor smirked.

“A little bird told me that you were sick and refused to go home.”

It took a while before it clicked in the threes heads and Vintgae slowly backed away. 

“No.”

Omega looked into Vintage’s eyes and nodded.

“Yes.”

Before Red and Double knew it, Vintage was swept off his feet and carried by the monarch.

“Put me down! I don’t want people to associate me with trash like you.”

Vintage’s words had no effect and Emperor turned his head towards Omega.

“Just take him home. Go to Crustacean Street. I’ll send you the address in a bit.”

Emperor did a small bow and started walking, Vintage protesting the entire time. Red sole turned to Omega.

“What kind of plan is that?”

“Yeah, their going to kill each other.”

Omega didn’t seemed concerned in the slightest. Not that it ever did. She simply shrugged.

“I read Vintage’s diary. Now, let’s go find a suitable fourth.”

Red Sole and Double Egg shared an “ahh” before doing a double take.

“Wait. Vintage has a diary?!”

___...___

Vintage was not happy. He was sick. He wasn’t crushing lower teams. He was in his crush’s arms. Vintage shook his head a bit. No, he didn’t like the king. The king was beneath him. After all, what was a king to a god such as himself? 

“You’re finally down with your temper tantrum?”


	7. Laps (Draft 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emperor x Vintage, Emperor has some unhealthy habits from his childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh I head canon Emperor as Latino,,,long story will explain later (like never later)

Emperor picked at his half eaten plate as he stood against the wall of Goggles’s house. The team had decided to invite all their friends for a party, but it was a calm one compared to Team Pink’s. Emperor was grateful for it. 

The monarch made a frown as the more he looked at the food the more he lost his appetite. He needed to do his laps, but he couldn’t do it here. Not in front of everyone. Only Prince knew, and Emperor was relieved that he was able to convince his mother to not make Prince do the laps growing up. The king made his way to the kitchen and slipped his uneaten food in the trash subtly before putting the plate in the sink. He could here her voice.

“Emperor, five laps, and a bonus for good measure. We need you to keep your blood running to your brain.”

He scoffed silently as he made his way to the front door. He knew what she was really trying to say. 

“Emperor you need to keep your figure for the modeling. You’re getting fat, do the laps.”

As the king gripped the door handle, he had a bit of sense knocked into him. 

‘You’re not fat. You’re perfect the way you are, you are the king. You don’t need to listen to her anymore.’

Yet despite the voice from his heart telling him no, his brain said yes. Hoping he went unnoticed, Emperor slipped outside. Pulling out his phone, he at least wanted Prince to know where he was. He knew his younger brother would call the FBI if he couldn’t find Emperor within one minute. 

To Little Sunflower:  
Going to do five and a bonus around the block. Be back in thirtyish minutes or so.

He got a response immediately. He started walking.

From Little Sunflower:  
Why are you doing them? You don’t need to big brother. She’s not here. She can’t make you do then anymore.

He walked a bit faster.

To Little Sunflower:  
It’s a habit.

With that text, Emperor shoved his squid phone in his jacket pocket and looked ahead. As he walked his mind drifted. He thought about his grandmother, his abuela. 

She always overfed him and it became a bit much when Prince was born. Emperor smiled as he remembered how she would guilt trip them both into eating more. His smile turned into a frown as he remembered the fights her and his mom would get into. 

“They both can’t be eating that much! They need to stay fit!”

“¡Ay miga, están niños! You can’t just starve them into your perfect little fantasy world!”

“They are my children. You will not tell me how to raise them!”

Emperor always made sure Prince never saw nor heard these fights. Their parents tried to undo what his grandma had done. They tried to white-wash every ounce of Mexican heritage out of both monarchs. They were almost successful, but then their grandma died. Emperor threw himself into his culture, his past, and taught both himself and Prince Spanish. He even taught himself how to cook using old recipes he had found in his grandmother’s house. They were the only thing he could salvage before his parents threw everything away and sold the house. 

Emperor was now halfway around the block. His eyes stung as they fought back tears. He hasn’t cried over her death since he was fourteen, and he certainly wasn’t going to do it now. 

“Is the high and mighty king crying?”

Emperor swiftly turned around and almost threw a punch, but stopped himself upon realizing who it was.

“Vintage?”

The two toned inkling gave the monarch a sinister smirk.

“Who else?”

Emperor shrugged.

“Rider, Gloves, who ever else would dare mock a king.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you realize you formatted the book wrong but it’s 1 AM and you just want to publish the stuff you have so far and fix things later-


	9. Fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhh vent poly S4 thingy where Aloha messes up and the other three comfort him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it’s well known by now that Every time I write angst it’s my way of venting about my life lol-
> 
> It’s like sharing my personal life but not really...but yes really

“FUCK!”

Aloha threw his squid phone across the room, not caring about the crack he heard. He grabbed his pillow and yelled into it. The party king felt like crap, but not to the point he wanted to cry. No, he wanted to claw his throat out and make his throat bleed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I want ramen...
> 
> Also this idea is scrapped forever as this friend kinda did the unforgivable.w.  
> So I feel no pity-


	10. Hanahaki Disease

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emperor x Vintage
> 
> Both of these gay idiots get the disease and refuse to tell one another until...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emperor’s flowers :   
> Blue Star and Red Daffodils 
> 
> Vintage’s flower :   
> Yellow Lantana

Emperor felt his lungs fill up with the pesky petals for at least the fifth time that day. Just like before, he hurried himself near the construction behind Crusty Sean’s and hurled out the contents in his throat. He was lucky no one had caught him yet. The king propped himself against the wall, sitting on the floor. He was too tired to care about the conditions of it.

“Blue stars, they symbolize desire, love, and the strive for the infinite and unreachable. Red daffodils...interesting. Daffodils themselves represent regard and chivalry, but also unrequited love. I suspect the color is from the squid you have fallen for. Isn’t it?”

The eldest monarch picked up the two kinds of petals, recalling what his knight had told him. It was true he had fallen for a certain two toned inkling. And he was certain it would never work out. 

Tears slowly fell down his face as he felt the petals crawl up his throat, thorns now making their presence known. He quickly turned to the side, the petals were now mixed with golden ink. When the session was over, the king wiped the ink off with the inside of his sleeve to conceal what had happened. 

“Brother! Please tell him already, we are worried!”

“No, I could never do that! Are you insane?!”

“Then remove them my king, please!”

“I’d rather die than do that.”

Emperor’s eyes watered more as he pulled his knees up to his chest. It was true he didn’t want to remove the flowers via surgery, but he couldn’t bear the thought of rejection either. Instead here he was, choosing to pathetically crying in his knees. He didn’t have to keep up his ego, not here where no one could see. Where no one could hear over the square’s upbeat music.

His ear twitched when he heard rapid footsteps approaching him, his head immediately shot up. He felt his throat tighten up as his eyes met with a certain inkling.

“Vintage.”

_...._

Vintage was making light conversation with a purple e-liter scope main. Both were trying to salvage the damaged friendship from long ago. As much as the ballpoint user tried, he couldn’t exactly focus on the conversation. His mind kept drifting off, choosing to think about the eldest member of the monarch team. The X-blood leader kept his calm, familiar with the sensation crawling up his throat. His body shook slightly, which didn’t go unnoticed by the purple inkling in front of him.

“Are...you okay Vintage?”

Vintage nodded, gripping his pants with one hand to help keep the flowers down. 

“Perfectly.”

Skull raised a nonexistent eyebrow, noticing the x rank squid’s flushed face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m still kinda continuing this? Just slowly making a sentence every time I feel just a little bit motivated.
> 
> I like doing research behind the flowers when I do Hanahaki diseases because I learn more about their meanings and I find out about more kinds of flowers.
> 
> YES IM A BOY WHO LIKES FLOWERS THEY ARE NEAT OKAY-


	11. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emperor x Vintage 
> 
> Vintage wants to embarrass Emperor like how Emperor embarrasses him with PDA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh this writing came out entirely different than how I wanted it to.

Vintage wasn’t good at showing affection, that was very well known. Yet somehow, he was able to land a relationship with team monarch’s Emperor. Of course, Vintage being himself, didn’t quite comprehend the knot his stomach would tie itself up in when he saw just a sliver of golden tentacles. So what did he do?

He had marched right up to the eldest monarch and demanded what he had done to him. The king of turf simply chuckled, a golden hue on his cheeks, and got on one knee. The two toned inkling was confused, his face obtaining its own mixed hue. Emperor had grabbed the shorter male’s hand and swiftly kissed it. This prompted a shriek out of Vintage and he immediately redrew his hand, holding it close to him. The entire square seemed to be watching, curious as to what was happening. 

The X-blood leader yelled at the other, wanting to know just what in the great zapfish was he thinking. The golden inkling simply grinned in a mischievous manner before giving a small wave and wandering off, leaving a very confused and very flustered Vintage.

That incident was only a couple weeks ago. From then on Emperor would do small things, whether it be grabbing the Vintage by the waist, prepaying for his ballpoint repairs (polishing and exams included!), giving him small kisses on the cheek, blowing him kisses, or giving small compliments. These actions would often leave Vintage a blushing mess and his teammates would get a good laugh out of the stutters that would occur, even Omega would laugh a bit. 

Today was a little different however. Vintage wanted to try to give the monarch a taste of his own medicine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea itself I have in my mind won’t be scrapped, just the way I wrote it here.


	12. Laps (Draft 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emperor x Vintage
> 
> The king would never have problems with his body. He’s too full of himself. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lost motivation to continue this,,, but I wanna continue,,,

Emperor stared at the plate of less than half eaten food. Currently, all the teams he had come across were at Team Blue’s new house celebrating a house warming. Nervously, the king looked around the living room. He scowled slightly when he realized there wasn’t a trash bin nearby, he’d have to go to the kitchen. Emperor made his escape from his spot in the corner and quickly found himself in the kitchen. He started to discard the food in the trash and-

“Big brother? What are you doing?”

The older monarch cringed and turned his head to face the young prince. Prince’s eyes widened when he realized what was happening.

“You’re...doing it again.”

Emperor set the plate aside and tried to pull the wool over Prince’s eyes. 

“Prince, listen, I’m jus-“

“N-no! Don’t try to get yourself out of it this time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry all these are super short/bad!   
> I’ll add more to this book whenever I can/am able to (need to have unfinished ideas to actually update this lol-) ^^


	13. I Put Myself Down To Raise You Up (Draft 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Army is depressed, that’s really all I have to say for this summary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...  
> Written February 21, but rereading this still hit hard

It’d be a lie to say Army was his usual self. He’d woken up this morning and was immediately hit with a wave of uneasiness. 

Nevertheless, he dragged himself out of bed and regretted it. He stumbled forward, his body seemed to not be conscious like his mind was. Army was lucky not to be sent into the wall as he grabbed the side of his desk.

Yeah, definitely not his day.

Army was already rolling with a ‘i don’t give a f’ attitude and his brows were angled to make him look more irritated than usual. After making sure his body cooperated with his mind, Army moved towards his door. 

Not surprisingly, he was the first up, like usual. Stealing the chance to use the bathroom before Aloha, Army closed and locked the door. The locked part was out of habit he gotten from childhood, it had stopped his parents from barging into his room whenever they felt like it. Made them learn to knock.

Looking himself in the mirror, Army realized something. He looked like absolute shit.

His eye bags were more noticeable compared to yesterday, the paleness of his skin was almost at competition level with Mask’s, and his body looked like he hadn’t been eating properly. This only deepened his frown. He knows his parka can hide his body, but the other two? He knows he can’t hide that. He sighed, wishing the Earth just swallowed him whole.

Army got his hair tie from around his wrist, noting that it had left an imprint. After tying them up, Army grabbed his orange tooth brush along with matching tooth paste and turning on the tap. After approximately two minutes of brushing his teeth (yes he counted each second), Army spit out the mixture of saliva and carbonized toothpaste. Wiping his mouth, Army took one last look in the mirror. 

He looked slightly better now that he had freshened up a small bit, but he still looked terrible. His words not mine.

Army exited the bathroom and headed towards his room, catching a glance at the hall clock.

7:00 AM. The others would be up in about one to two hours.

Taking a breath, Army entered his room. He located his usual entire that he had washed the night prior and put them on. He looked at himself in the mirror on his closet door. He was right, the parka hid his frail body.

Army made the mistake of letting his eyes wonder around his body. 

Was he getting fatter? He ran a hand over his stomach, of course nothing was there, but the mind has a way with the eyes. 

He stepped closer to the mirror, putting his hands on either side of his face.

Army managed to snap out of it, scowling at himself. He sighed quietly and grabbed the stick of eye black off his desk, returning to face the mirror as he applied a stripe on both cheeks. After throwing the stick back on his desk, which was odd as he usually placed it back in order with his other things, Army exited the room and headed towards the kitchen. 

He jumped when he saw a familiar cyan inkling digging through the fridge. Army crossed his arms and his stance changed, matching his disapproval of the situation. 

It was only 7:15, Mask why are you like this.

Mask, who had a surgical mask rather than his gas mask, pulled away from the fridge, a few soft drinks in tow and turned. He froze when he saw Army in the doorway of the kitchen, drumming his fingers against his arm. 

“...fuuuck...”

And that’s how Mask got roped into helping make breakfast as a punishment for trying to consume sugar so early in the morning. Only Skull was allowed to do that, seeing he was basically immune to diabetes and cavities. How that worked out no one knew. 

“Cmon love it’s not the end of the world.”

Army rolled as eyes as he told this to Mask, who acted like he was chained to the spoon that he was using to stir the batter.

“Hyuk...miiight as weeell beee...”

Army bit his lip and held back from saying anything. A few thoughts surfaced in his mind.

Did Mask really feel this way?

Was it towards doing something that wasn’t playing video games?

Or was it because he was with Army?

The orange inkling tried to stop thinking after that last thought, but they were so persistent.

He probably hates you

He doesn’t want to spend time with a weakling like you

They are all probably dating you out of pity

Even Aloha has called you the weakest in the past

Army choked back a sob, causing Mask to look at him with concern.

“Arrrmyyy...?”

Swallowing down his emotions, Army looked at Mask, his eyes threatening to create an ocean.

“I’ll be back...Wake Aloha and ask him to help you.”

Without waiting for a response, Army speed walked out of the kitchen and towards the front door. He soon found himself running from the house and towards Black Belly, good thing it wasn’t in the rotations. He hopped the wall and went to one of the sniper’s perches, managing to hoist himself up seeing that he forgot his N-Zap and ink tank at home, so swimming up wasn’t an option. 

Steady your breathing.

Army hugged his knees close to his chest, burying himself deeper into the corner as he tried to get a hold on his breathing. He wasn’t sure exactly when his self esteem had begun to drop into nothingness, it just ... happened.

When his breathing steadied, Army took out a manual from his inside pocket along with a pencil. This manual was smaller than the others he owned, and filled with times he felt this way (he had gotten this manual after a few weeks of feeling this way, so the first entry isn’t the first time). 

He didn’t know tears had fallen down his face until he noticed wet splotches on his now open manual. Not bothering to wipe them away, he began to write:

“ 𝙸𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍, 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 

𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝. 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚞𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜.

𝙾𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝙸 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚔 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘. 𝙷𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚖𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜?

𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 

𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚜, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎. 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 𝙾𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢'𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚊𝚖...

𝙸'𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂4. 𝙱𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝙾𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚂4 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝙸 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚝."

Finishing the last sentence, Army closed the book and leaned against the wall. He wiped his face with the cuff of his parka, cursing when he realized his eye black had been tampered with. He felt exhausted, running for a couple miles without food or something to drink isn’t good for the body. Taking off his parka, he formed a small pillow and laid his head on it. He drifted to sleep in a matter of seconds. 

His conscious awoke a few hours later when he heard his name being called. He became a squid and kept his eyes closed, hoping whoever was calling him went away. To block out the voices he focused his mind on how the temperature was much cooler in his beret than the environment outside (his beret didn’t form with him). 

“Found him! ♪”

Army felt his gear and himself being lifted up, presumably by Aloha. Army tried to hide himself in his parka’s fluff as he heard two more sets of footsteps echoing throughout the skatepark. He tried to shield his shut eyes from the light when his beret was lifted up.

“Army...?”

“Is heee sleeeping...? Hyuk.”

“I swear I saw him move... ♪”

“Nooo shiiit, maaaybe becauuuse heeee’s aliiive.”

“Quiet, the both of you.”

To Army’s surprise, the two shut up at Skull’s command.

If you disappeared they’d be able to continue like you’d never existed

The three’s ears perked up when they heard a small sob from the orange squid. Quickly, they all sat down and took turns cradling him in their arms, Mask going first.

“Arrrmy...? Why are you cryyying...?”

Normally Mask would enjoy the sadness of others, but this was one of his boyfriends and his happiness mattered to Mask. Army tried to open his eyes through the tears as he spoke.

“Y-you hate m-me... y-you said it felt like the e-end of the w-w-world when you were cooking w-with m-me.”

Mask felt the other two glare into his soul and he immediately felt guilty. He hugged his crying boyfriend.

“Arrrmy Im sorrrry, I don’t haaaate youuuu...I waaaas juuust laaazy, I didn’t meeeaan to huurrrt youuuu.”

Army turned into humanoid form and clung to the cyan inkling, sobbing into the boy’s shoulder. 

While that was going on, Aloha looked down at Army’s jacket, seeing a small manual sticking out.

‘Huh...never seen this one before...’

Aloha poked Skull on the shoulder, gesturing at the manual that now resided in his hand. Nodding, the two peered inside.

Mask rubbed Army’s back while the other’s sobs calmed down and were now quick breaths and hiccups. The cyan inkling felt like crap, even though it was an accident, he had caused this to happen. Mask hugged Army tighter, and then he realized something.

Was Army always this skinny?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First draft of what is now known as “He’s Gone” except I had poly S4 in this


	14. I Put Myself Down To Raise You Up (Draft 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I make Army more depressed because I was really in my feels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written three days after the first draft,,

An orange toned inkling awoke as the clock displayed 6:00 AM. He rubbed his exhausted eyes as he grabbed his hair tie from the night stand and used it to get his relatively small tentacles away from his face. He swiftly met the floor with his feet, sitting straight before getting up and walking to his closet. 

Everything was neatly in order, from his causal gear for around the house to his gear used for competitive play. He favorited one specific outfit, however, his forge inkling parka with his punk cherries and special forces beret. Placing everything he needed on the bed, the cherries of course being placed on the floor, he began to undress from his nightwear.

After a few minutes of putting on his clothing, he looked in the mirror. The inkling’s neutral face turned into a one of slight disgust. He glared at the inkling in the mirror, who’s eyes had bags under them, the eye black on his cheeks only drawing more attention to them. His legs were twigs and his orange eyes dull. Yet despite all these flaws, he was somehow apart of the S4, a team of four of Inkopolis’ plaza’s strongest leaders. 

The mature teen thought of himself as no strong leader, not anymore. When told otherwise he merely brushed it off, thinking of it all as lies or pity compliments. He knew his place as a weakling amongst his peers.

Tearing his eyes away from the mirror, he walked towards his desk and quickly stuffed his manual into the inside coat pocket along with a sharpened pencil and pink eraser (those went into a pocket on his arm). It was then he emerged from his room, closing the door behind him. With arms behind his back, chin slightly up, and a posture so straight you’d think he’d have broke his back by now, he walked down the hall of the house and down the stairs to the kitchen. He took notice of the time on the kitchen stove, 6:30 AM. If he started now on breakfast, he’d have everything ready by 7:30 AM, though he knew his fellow teammates wouldn’t be up. Shaking his head at this fact, he made his way towards the front door, deciding a walk was needed. 

Once he was outside he triple checked the lock before starting off on his journey. It was a cold Saturday morning, the only ones up were cephalopods who couldn’t wait to get on the turf war field or unlucky workers who got stuck with weekend shifts. 

After about ten minutes the drill sergeant found himself at a small playground in the neighborhood. He approached the swing set before sitting down and pushing off the ground backwards. In a methodical manner he swung his legs back and forth when required. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to swing, but it was a pleasant experience no less.

It wasn’t long until he felt a light drop of water fall onto his nose. Looking up on instinct, he found that he had been so busy keeping his mind occupied, that he didn’t notice the light gray clouds circling overhead. Shrugging it off, he kept swinging. If it seemed like it was going to rain harder he’d take his leave. Inkling bodies can only stand so much water pressure after all. 

Clutching the chains a bit tighter, the sergeant let his mind wander more. It lead him to a memory of his battle with Goggles. The thought of the navy blue inkling helping him learn how to have fun brought a small smile to his face. The moment didn’t last long as he recalled that one of the S4, Aloha, had referred to him as “the weakest of us.” Of course the male understood that there will always be someone who is considered the weakest, but for some reason it hit him, and boy did it hit him hard. It was the reason he didn’t appraise his own battling anymore. 

What skin was shown by the orange toned inkling started to burn a bit. Did it matter? He deserved it. He was weak. He let his team down by not writing every tactic in his manual, he let himself be vulnerable to the point he stays up wondering if all seven of his teammates hate him for being weak, great zapfish did all of Inkopolis hate him?

The rain continued to burn him, but it felt good. He knew he was too much of a coward to ever harm himself, so he let other things do it for him. He was too weak. 

He fished out his squid phone from his pocket to check the time. 7:30 AM. Had it really been that long? It wasn’t like him to lose track of time, but it was understandable given the circumstance. 

He stood and began to walk the way back home, feeling the slight burns of the rain against his skin increasing every second.

——

The purple beast awoke earlier than he usually did. Yawning, he sat up and stretched. Hearing the satisfying pop of his bones, the purple toned inkling got out of bed. He lazily pulled off the muscle shirt he was wearing and threw it in the corner of his room. He threw on his octo tee and shorts before tying his signature skull bandana onto his face. His high horseas were thrown on last. The sniper main then walked out of his room, pulling his tentacles into his hair tie along the way. 

The silence was the first thing he had noticed. Usually he’d hear Army in the kitchen cooking breakfast, but he didn’t. The only thing that greeted him was the sound of rain hitting the roof. Curious, he decided to check the sergeant’s room. 

Of course the room was organized perfectly, but the bed was undone. The purple toned inkling’s concern rose, surely Army hadn’t meant to leave his bed in this state. Where was Army?

The purple beast walked to the room a little ways down the hall, the door decorated in various beach related items. He knocked gently before letting himself in. The sight of the sleeping pink angel brought a small smile to his face, though it was hidden by the bandana. Sadly he had to wake up the sleeping inkling, who’s face scrunched up as he shook him.

“Five more minutes...”

The sniper’s smile grew a bit and he leaned forward to give the angel’s face a nuzzle.

“Sorry Love, but something’s wrong with Army.”

That got the sleeping beauty’s attention. Hesitation was shown through body language as the pink inkling started to wake.

“What’s happened? Is he okay?”

He got a shrug in response. 

“Not sure, but he’s not in the kitchen or his room and I think leaving his bed unmade is a cry for help.”

The gal user frowned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eye.

“Thats....weird...”

The sniper agreed and gently threw the pink inkling’s aloha shirt and golf visor at him.

“Get ready, I’ll wake Mask up.”

The party king chuckled.

“Good luck.”

——

The drill sergeant was on the verge of collapsing. The rain had taken its toll on him and he felt light headed. He pressed on anyways, attempting to shield himself with his hood. He was almost home...he just...had to...stay...a...awa...ke...

“Army!”

Heh...He knew he was weak...

The orange blaze awoke to pain. Groaning, he blinked quickly to regain his vision. He was in the living room on the couch. Wait...who brought him here? Surely the others had been sleeping the entire time he was gone. Looking down he noticed his calves were bandaged along with his hands and some of his face.

His attention was brought back to the ceiling where he just stared. He wondered if the rest of the S4 was home, he doubted it. Who’d want to stay and take care of a weakling like him? They were probably upset that they had to drag him out of the rain and bandage him. 

Army felt tears running down his cheek, but he couldn’t muster the will power to wipe it away. He couldn’t feel his body. He closed his eyes, trying to keep calm as he knew freaking out wouldn’t help his situation.

He felt a hand on his arm and his eyes snapped back open. He squinted at the blurry blob with cyan hair, confused. When the blaze’s visión came to, he realized it was Mask, but with a surgeon mask instead of his gas mask. Cute.

Wait, was he trying to tell Army something? 

Army saw his lips move, but no words could be heard. Are my gulped and tried to speak.

“Ca...can’t hear...”

He saw Mask’s eyes widen a bit before he walked off. Army chuckled slightly at this. He was alone. He told himself he needed to get up, stop being a burden. As he sat up, he felt excruciating pain in his arms. He let out a scream, though he couldn’t hear it. When he had stood up from the couch, there were streams of tears going down his face and blood dripping from his lip from where he had bitten it. He steadied himself from collapsing. He turned his head when he had heard the thump of footsteps. 

The other three members of the S4 entered the room in a hurry. Why? Why not let him suffer in silence? He doesn’t want them to see how weak he truly was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a slight parallel between this draft and Free at last,,, but I was sorta feeling the same things for all four (including He’s Gone) so it’s expected. Free at last just kinda goes more in depth.


	15. Stressed out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since Inkopolis was ordered to go into quarantine, Army has been having a hard time doing online school. With all the stress, he almost breaks into going back to a bad habit, but not before he is given an unexpected visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhhhh **warnings**
> 
> Mentions of suicidal thoughts  
> Attempted cutting
> 
> Had to add the money stuff because Army comes from a noble family 
> 
> I wrote most of this while on the brink of passing out last night, but after the "...deadly reason" it becomes stuff I wrote like.. ten minutes ago because this is kinda my therapy to put all my thoughts and emotions in order.
> 
> Poly S4 thing,,,

Army stared blanking at the paper with only one math problem done. He looked back up at the laptop screen, reanalyzing the same paragraph he'd been looking at for the past twenty minutes. He tried to make sense of it, but he couldn't. What did his teacher want for an answer?

The topic is expected value, but the question is worded like it was meant for probability. Army bit at his lip anxiously. He only had two hours left to finish this assignment. He was so confused. He didn't understand anything.

Army just wanted to sleep, he thought about ending himself... twice? Yeah, twice today. He was just stressed out. He's been distracting for the past month, focusing his attention else where instead of his classes. Now look where it got him. He had bullshit an essay for history, he hadn't done two essays due at the end of the week, he hasn't done his part of the group project yet, and now he was stuck staring at the stupid laptop in front of him. It was mocking him.

This stupid quarantine.

He loathed it.

His 4.5 GPA was going to tank eventually, his math grade about to talk a huge shit after the deadline passes and the english essay going to kick his ass.

There goes his spot in the top 20 students of his grade.

His parents were going to kill him.

To be honest, if they do try to kill him with the venom they spit from their mouths, he'd speak daggers back, yet never use any.

Dad barely finished high school. Mom couldn't even make it out of college. Pathetic really. That woman wasted so much of Dad's money only for her to keep deciding it wasn't where she wanted to be. It was pure luck that an unexpected inheritance granted them the money they needed to flourish.

Army shook his head, now he was acting no better than them.

Army stared up at his ceiling fan. How nice it'll look if he was a hanging decoration.

Woah.

Army hit his head with his wrist.

"Stop that..."

With an inhale and exhale, Army fell back against the pillow of his bed.

Why did quarantine have to happen? Why couldn't infected people stay the fuck inside?

If quarantine happened he wouldn't have needed to text-

Army's phone lit up at the shift of movement created by him using his propped elbow to sit up.

Them.

The background of his phone lit up to show a picture of the other S4 and him. Army smiled. The three had stolen him from his house to hang out at a park at night. Such an outing would be deemed selfish by society, but none of them were sick, and they all wore masks... they did break the distance however. An orange blush on Army's face appeared and he ghost his lips with his fingers.

It was... interesting to say the least.

The unempathetic sergeant.

The animated party animal.

The cynical cyan squid.

The purple charger beast.

Who would have thought they'd all just... click together? And they were all brought together by such a deadly reason.

Army couldn't go a day without one of them messaging him, and it was so hypocritical of him to want the distraction. Army sat up properly and faced the phone down. Why couldn't he just...do his work properly anymore?

What a disappointment.

Army took in a breath as he felt his entire body go numb again. Just like it had been for the past four days, masking it in fake happiness. He couldn't even do a proper fake smile if he tried.

And boy did he try.

He was able to have some laughs over the days, but it wasn't enough at times.

Army clenched his jaw in frustration before sliding off his bed.

"Where is the blasted-"

He looked on his book shelf.

Not there.

His dresser.

Not there.

Army groaned as he looked back at the mess that was his bed. He had just cleaned it when he dropped chips on it yet there it was, scattered in school supplies and books that should be in their places but weren't.

He looked in the small bag where his writing supplies were, it was usually there... or not. Rolling his eyes the sergeant moved things around. Eventually a gold shimmer caught his eye. Army reached for it, grabbing it in his hand.

"There you are..."

He flipped it open, more of its golden color showing from beneath the matte black hold. Not that it was really gold, it would have cost a lot more than 17,000. He lightly tapped his index finger along the blade's shark tooth like cut at the beginning. Still as pretty as when he first got it. Without thinking he tapped the end against his wrist before working his way to his thumb, events from his earlier school days replaying in his head. Just tiny cuts to his thumb so no one noticed, not that anyone noticed the larger ones on his arm. Army blinked forcibly and traced light lines on his thumb. Maybe he could-

"What do you have there?"

Army yelped, pulling the knife away from his finger and tossing it to the left of him.

"Skull..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No I didn't do anything stupid, I stopped myself. 
> 
> Most likely never going to finish this,,


	16. *insert title name here*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloha's flirting gets him in trouble with a young squid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You pronouns.
> 
> I am really out of it rn geez.
> 
> Just something I threw together so I don't fall asleep waiting for next class to start.
> 
> hnng, , poly s4 though it's supposed to be present at the second half of the chapter, I don't feel like finishing it. 
> 
> I threw in Scuba having crushes on Avi and Desi because I felt like it-

You adjusted the visor on your head, walking through school with your hands in the pockets of your shorts. The weather was hot, like it usually was. Rarely rained in Inkopolis, then again, this place _was_ built on a desert. You liked the heat though, always perfect for the beach. 

You should probably hit up Scuba about that later...

" Hey! 'Loha!"

Nevermind, he was already here. 

" Hey Scoobs."

Scuba rolled his eyes, throwing a loose arm over your shoulders.

" Don't call me that."

You smirked at him.

" Scoobs."

Scuba groaned. He hated how you reminded him about it.

" I swear ya eat scooby snacks one time!"

You chuckled and shrugged.

" Wanna hit up the beach later? Perfect weather for surfin'."

He grinned at you, nodding before starring somewhere for a bit. Confused, you followed his gaze. Once you understood, what, or _who_ caught his eyes, you couldn't help but nudge his side. 

" Ya ever going to talk to them?"

You felt Scuba tense, cod those two really caught him huh? He shook his head, his eyes never leaving them until their figures disappeared behind the corner they turned.

Definitely caught.

" Nah, they're too good for someone like me..."

You raised a brow, wanting to know more though you are certain you felt that feeling before. Just couldn't get a grasp on it.

" What do you mean?"

Scuba gave a half hearted chuckle and looked at the ground.

" Ya know...I'm... and they're... the cliques are just too different, ya know?"

You nodded, grazing your eyes over the quad to the sea of cephalopods. You sent a wink to a group of girls, they squealed and talked excitedly to one another, not that you cared. You leaned more towards guys anyways. 

You were known for being a flirt, confidently going up to anyone and making them flustered. Your secret? Lack of sleep. It puts you in a state when you just don't care about what other people think of you, makes you not give a fuck. Sometimes, that got you in trouble. 

" Aloha!"

Now here was some.

Both you and Scuba turned around, Scuba taking his arm away and putting a hand in his pocket. From the tone of the voice, this wasn't going to be a friendly conversation. 

It was a female inkling, about two grades younger than you both. You've never seen her before, though it's understandable. You'll flirt with anyone, but you still have boundaries you wouldn't cross. The younger grades are off limits because... gross. Anyways, the kid looked pissed. You internally groaned as you saw her small group of friends, all with their arms crossed. 

_Ya'll try to gang up on us during the school day and you'll start a war between our grades and you'll get suspended. Dumbasses._

You fixed your posture to add more height to yourself, not that it was necessary. You could crush this kid, though, they always take the girl's side over the guy's, so it's best to just look intimidating. 

" Ya rang?"

You grinned when her stance faltered a bit. It only fueled your confidence as you took a step forward. She wanted to shrink but couldn't.

She was stuck in the eyes of hunter, and at any moment, she would officially become the hunted.

" I- um-"

" She wants to know why you've been flirting with her boyfriend!"

Your eyes snapped up, an embarrassed blush appeared on the girl who spoke. You redirected your attention to the first girl.

" Oh really? And who might that be?"

She gained a bit of confidence. 

" Vader."

Vader.. Vader.. ah you remembered now.

" Vader, the squid in my grade? Aren't you a little too young to be his girlfriend sweetie?"

Her cheeks puffed up in anger.

" No! We are in love! And your flirting is ruining it!"

You doubted it. Last time you checked, Vader was single, and in the closet. 

You wanted to have fun with this. Last night's all nighter kicking in.

" Oh sweetie, you really think he loves you? How can he love you, when he gets all happy and cute to see me? You really think he cares about you? Pick yourself up girl ad stop living a fairytale. You and him will never-"

You were cut short and you heard gasps. The school went silent.

You pulled a hand to your nose, feeling the pink ink that started to slowly come down. She really hit you.

Everyone was waiting for your move, the teachers were no where in sight, you could technically hit this girl back.

But you won't.

Instead, you flashed a grin, waving her off as you grabbed Scuba's arm. 

" 'Loha are you-"

" Just fine Scoobs, come on, the rest of lunch can't be wasted~!"

___

After school you heard two footsteps running behind you. 

Great did this chick have brothers?

Turning, you were met with cyan and purple eyes filled with concern. You blushed. Well shit two of your three crushes were here, and they probably saw everything that happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Numb, numb, numb.
> 
> it's how all feelings turn out in the end.
> 
> I feel bad for people who text me and get dry ass responses, I swear I'm trying, and I'm sorry it's not enough.


	17. It's Your Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aloha opens up to his dad about something that happened. His dad turns everything around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warnings**  
>  Mention of sexual harrassment  
> (possible?) "victim" (you'll see why I added quotations) blaming  
> I guess trauma?
> 
> Trans Aloha
> 
> haha,,, the conversation I had with my dad was fun.
> 
> This is finished, but I am **not** posting this as its own story.
> 
> This is just a vent.

Aloha clutched the McSquid's happy meal box with his hands. His freckles and floppy tentacles helped to softly illuminate the car with his ink color. Aloha's dad was talking about something that had recently come up in the last few days. It was about those screenshots. 

He wanted to tell his dad. He wanted to tell his dad what happened. 

He just needed to wait.

"...I wanted to show your brother he needs to pick his battles..."

There it was, the opening. 

Here goes.

"Dad? Remember when I told you that ----- and I dated?"

Aloha had his attention.

He took a breath.

"One time, I fell asleep on accident, and... I have this thing, where I'm awake, but I can't move. Like my brain is awake but my body isn't. And when I "woke up" ----- was... rubbing in between my inner thigh and near my...yeah."

Aloha really didn't want to his genital anatomy. He continued before his father could get a word in.

"And I didn't say anything back then, because I wasn't sure if it was a dream. But with those texts, and how it affected my sleep for the past year, I thought that maybe... it was real. Because I can't sleep a lot, I try to get as little hours as possible because I feel like anyone can do that again. I can't walk around school by myself, I can't do anything by myself at school because what if... it happens again, but this time I'm awake and powerless to stop it?"

His dad was silent for a moment.

"So what you're saying is, you have sleep paralysis?"

Aloha's eyes widen as he thumbed one of the handles of the McSquid's box. Was that... the only thing his father heard? His hearts dropped. Don't cry.

"Y-yes?"

Fuck he stuttered.

"Well, you can see but you cant move right? You know why you have that?"

Aloha bit his lip. Wow, his father really didn't care.

"Because you are staring at screens too much. You have to stop doing that, you know when your uncle..."

Aloha stopped listening. He should've kept his mouth shut. 

His dad went on for a couple minutes before deciding to torture Aloha with something else. Hope.

"When was it, what time did he do that?"

Aloha's ears perked up. 

"At school, after school. Hallway."

"You see you shouldn't have fallen asleep. In the future you have to take that into account. You can't just fall asleep anywhere."

Aloha's breath hitched, the right side of his lip twitch. Was his dad... really doing this?

Aloha broke the small handle with a quick thumb movement.

"You think I wanted to fall asleep?! You think I wanted to do that?!"

His dad glared at him.

"No one is yelling at you kiddo. Calm down."

_**Oh I'll show him fucking calm** _

_shut up, why are you angry?_

Aloha ran a nail over the ridge of the box, clenching his teeth together.

His dad talked more.

It was sexual harassment.

You should have called him out.

It was your fault.

It was your fault.

**It was your fault.**

Aloha started to believe it. He shouldn't have fallen asleep. Was he really the victim here?

Aloha faked a smile and a happy goodbye as he got off the truck and entered his mom's house. Tears were threatening to spill from his right eye.

Not safe yet.

He set the McSquid meal on his bed when he got to his room. His left eye started to water.

Safe. 

He pulled his hoodie over his head and started to cry, slowly sinking to the ground.

Aloha, the person at his school who was known to be a flirt, the person at his school known to have a lot of past partners, the person who made a lot of jokes about sex, and the person who joked about relationships. 

Who knew that he was terrified of being in a relationship and intimacy?

For crying out loud he had a lot of kinks, his bratty bottom side acted up by accident earlier because the idiot was sleep deprived and the stupid pill was messing with his brain. He really wanted to take that back. He wanted to throw up the fries he shoved in his mouth minutes before talking about what happened. 

...it's whatever though.

It's not like he stopped his ex. Who cares if he couldn't?

It was still his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...my day was weird.
> 
> Started off numb.
> 
> Was really happy.
> 
> Got sad.
> 
> Got happy again. 
> 
> Finally, numb.
> 
> It always ends in numb, doesn't it?
> 
> I'm going to forget I wrote this when I wake up.


	18. Wednesday, [REDACTED] 17 ,[REDACTED]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A scrapped part of part 2.
> 
> Mask is a weird dude.

"what do you mean you wont do it?"

**"..."**

They didn't answer me. Just stared as I was holding out my emotions to them. I don't know why I still call them 'them'. They are still me. Just a part I severed away and treated like a different entity when, in fact, I didn't want to admit we are still the same. 

I won't take the deal I'm offering myself.

If I just get rid of my emotions again, I'll stop having problems.

It's funny. I was forcing myself to take the deal earlier now I won't.

"Are you being the coward now?"

**"..."**

I can't do this.


	19. Locked Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Based on the song "Locked Away" by R. City, Adam Levine.
> 
> Poly S4 (haven't gone back to my roots in sO LONG-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinnie idea that I can't do right now because math sucks lol
> 
> I expose myself so much-

BULLET POINTS I MISSED YOU-

\- sorta of a songfic, just some lyrics unless i wanna be ballsy and do the whole song

\- just talking about Mask's insecurities and bad memories (or is it my memories who knows ooooOOOooo- yeah it is it's obvious lol)

\- vague, but not too vague

\- don't put the extremely bad memories... okay maybe like one-

\- Some flaws: drools sometimes because saliva go brrrr (dentist makes fun of me for it _cries_ , hyperfixates on things and won't shut up (leads to hyperventilating), hay fever, night terrors, being tainted (did i already make a small fic about this? yes. but i will still insult myself for it-), goes numb

\- "If I can't buy you the fancy things in life" -> reference Army's wealth and how he'd be used to luxury items and how Skull and Aloha deserve the world to him, but he has to work really hard to get money because well videogame fixation and he doesn't have parents to back him up + hay fever makes his mind light in the sun so he can't turf for too long

\- "Tell me, tell me, would you call me?" -> reference how Mask stays up not just because of insomnia but in case one of the three calls him in case they need help/whatever small comfort he can offer (haha i dont do this noooo)

\- "Tell me, tell me, do you love me? Or is you just tryna play me?" -> trust issues trust issues trust issues- imply fear of just being used for uh... _yeah_

\- end with "Would you still love me the same?" as if Mask has been asking them questions the whole time, thinking of everything about himself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha projecting self goes brrrr okay back to this dumb meth assignment


	20. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Practice Songfic I never got to finish lol
> 
> Emperor x Vintage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ack- I still gotta finish this and a Poly S4 request from like... april I think-
> 
> latinx Emperor latinx Emperor latinx Emperor latinx Emperor latinx Emperor latinx Emperor-

Two cephalopods sat in the clearing of the woods, their bottoms cushioned by their jackets, protecting them from the morning dew. Both were exhausted, but managed to stay awake. The party at Team Pink's had gotten a bit out of hand, and in the end everyone had to scatter from the police. After a while, the king of turf turned to the other.

" Are you ready to try again?"

"I think I'm ready," Sighed out the king of rank as played with the hem of his shirt, unsure of his capabilities. He glared a bit as he heard light chuckling from the left of him. 

"Okay. Here we go. Esquína?"

"Corner."

"Tienda?"

"Store."

"Bombilla?"

"Lightbulb."

"You're sure?" Emperor looked at his lover with a mischievous glint in his eye. Vintage felt his face heat up a bit and he hesitantly nodded.

"I'm... sure"

"Three out of three, you did alright!" The golden inkling grinned at the other, happy that their all night Spanish session was paying off. He was going to leave it at that, not wanting to go through the other words he had taught Vintage. Learning a new language was hard and he understood that, but he felt a hand grab his and his golden eyes met with ruby red.

"Teach me a little more..." Emperor nodded, taken back by the softness of the other's voice.

"Calor?"

"Heat."

"Anoche?"

"Last night."

"Dolor?"

"Pain."

"That's right."

"Llámame?"

"Call me."

"Azul?"

"Blue."

"Ámame."

"Love me."

"Perhaps I do—..." Vintage quickly looked up at Emperor, who was looking to his left, hiding his face from the other. He swallowed nervously as he slowly said the words that over took his mind.

"Well, how do you say kiss me?" Emperor's expression turned to shock and face the two toned inkling and managed to respond.

"Bésame..." Vintage squeezed Emperor's hand with his own as the both of them maintained eye contact.

"And how do you say hold me?"

"Abrázame."

"Al amanecer. At sunrise"

It was like both knew what to say without ever having discussed it

"Anything at all can happen just before the sunrise"  
"Anything at all can happen just before the sunrise"

"Al amanecer"  
"Al amanecer"

Slowly the cyan inkling stood up, taking the other with him.

'Sunrise' 

Emperor took the Vintage’s free hand and held it, starting to slowly dance.

'Sunrise'

Emperor could tell the other wasn’t that experienced, so he kept the steps to small.

'Sunrise'

Vintage followed the other’s lead, looking down at their feet so he didn’t step on the monarch’s shoes.

'Sunrise'

'Sigue andando el camino por toda su vida'

Taking advantage of the distraction, Emperor moved the ballpoint user’s left hand to his right shoulder and gently wrapped his arm around the other’s waist.

'Sunrise'

Of course this didn’t go unnoticed like Emperor has planned and Vintage felt his face heat up, his attention focused on their feet even more now.

'Sunrise'

Both inklings danced, during small turns here and there.

'Sunrise'

Emperor had enough of not seeing Vintage’s face and unwrapped his arm from the others waist. He gently moved the other’s chin up so his gaze met his.

'Respira'

Suddenly, time went in slow motion.

'Sunrise'

Their faces inched closer, but the cyan inkling soon heard a familiar voice in the back of his mind.

"Emperor..."

An image of the younger monarch became clear in his mind and Vintage went in for a hug instead of the kiss he knew they both wanted. Emperor slowly hugged back, putting his head on top of the other's.

"I don't know..."

Vintage looked at nothing in the distance, negative thoughts plaguing his mind. He wasn't sure how Prince would react to the connection the king and conqueror have. 

"Yo no se..."

"What to do..."

"Qué hacer....'

"Now that I've found you..."

"Ahora que te encontré..."

"What will he say?"

Vintage removed his head from underneath the monarch and looked into his eyes, the monarch immediately trying to read the thoughts going on through his head just from looking at his eyes.

"Qué dirá?"

"When he sees me around you?"

Emperor's eyebrows raised as realization hit him like a full charged e-liter bullet to the head.

"So how do you say help me?" asked Vintage, desperation in his voice. Tears had formed from the corners of his eyes.

"Ayúdame" Emperor could do nothing but answer. He was in too much shock, he was froze.

"And how do you say promise me?"

"Prométeme"

"Promise me you'll stay beyond the sunrise"  
"Promise me you'll stay beyond the sunrise"

"I don't care at all what people say beyond the sunrise"  
"I don't care at all what people say beyond the sunrise"

\----

"Promise me you'll stay"

"I'll stay"

"I'll stay"

Sunrise  
Sunrise  
Sunrise  
Sunrise

"And how do you say "kiss me?" "

"Bésame"

"Bésame"

"Bésame"

"And how do you say always?"

"Para siempre..."

"Para siempre..."  
Sunrise  
Sunrise  
Sunrise  
Sunrise

"Al amanecer"

"Al amanecer"

"Al amanecer"

"Al amanecer"

"I will be there..."  
"I will be there..."

"Al amanecer..." Soon the gap between their faces closed, the sun laying soft warm tones over both inklings. Their promises to stay beyond the sunrise never broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay time to eat since I only had like... a chocolate muffin at 3:30ish today and it's 10
> 
> edit: hnnnnn im smiling like an idiot after rereading this to make sure I got most of the errors-


	21. He's Tired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something that was going to be a thing but nah

He threw himself in bed, exhausted from today. The "I hate yous" and "You're not my best friend anymores" were stuck in his head as he stared at the ceiling. He wasn't _that_ mean to his sister, was he? Mask rubbed his eyes, feeling the slight burning sensation run through his nerves. He smelled like vanilla. Baking was pretty okay, and he was going to make curry like Army said he should do, but his mom ordered Squid Out, so now he just felt bloated. Mask's eyes wandered to his stomach as he sat up. He was gaining pounds, that's for sure, the muffin top was starting to become obvious. He ran a hand over his tentacles, still soft, but a little oily. Geez when had he showered again? Mask hugged himself as he pondered that thought. 

When did it get so cold?

He was shaking a bit, his arms not providing the warmth he needed. Mask grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, sighing. Stupid poor blood circulation. He looked around the room, spotting a certain box in his closet. It was in there. Reluctantly, he got up and made his way towards the box, looking in it. 

Pink.

The skirt was in there from weeks ago, mocking him. Mask wasn't sure if he should give in... he just got misgendered today in public and this might make it worse. Well, his mom did it and nothing she says really matters anyways. Mask reached for it, but retracted his hand when the voice in his head piped up saying the lady is probably judging him for the short hair amongst other things... He was just a stupid girl. 

Mask groaned, rolling his eyes at himself before turning away from the box and heading out of the closet. Back to the bed he goes.

He's tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dysphoria said "hi"


	22. That was gay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ha gaaaaaay
> 
> Mask x (??? still deciding, most likely Aloha, maybe mintage for once in my life)

no further context just:

\- mask about to be kissed in a dream  
\- wakes up before lips touch  
\- "that was gay that was so fucking gay, mask" (talking to himself)


	23. Starboy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Possible Alomask book?

Would it kill me to make a Mask x Bobble? Yes. Yes it would. That is why it’s Starboy instead of Stargirl.

Not based on the eddsworld fanfic ‘Dear Starboy’.

It’s based on a book that I believe came before the fanfic (Imma laugh if the author’s fanfic inspo was also Stargirl, which it most likely is lol).

Aloha is obviously Starboy.

Mask is the main character who tries to change Aloha for the sake of appearing normal.

I used to cling onto this book during middle school during passing periods to classes because I couldn’t put it down even after I finished reading. I either have to find it again or have to take a trip to good ol Barnes n Nobles to find it. There’s a movie about it coming soon and I’m excited :)


	24. SMD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poly S4 
> 
> Mask just gets walked in on this is so sad-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. Listen.
> 
> Actually no I won't explain why I wrote this-
> 
> Warnings: Kinks (well a kink that's actually a disorder)

Army: *walks into Mask's room* hey Mask I-

Mask, who has a rope noose around his neck as he's laying in bed and mid-way pulling it: uhhhhhh- so- i can explain

Aloha: Yo Army are-

Mask: *nervous sweating intensifies*

Skull: *walks into room too* ...you know what I don't want to know *walks out*

-Some explaining later-

Mask: So I have a... disorder called Sexual Masochism Disorder and-

Aloha: Holy fuck you get turned on by getting hurt.

Mask: ...yes, but it's more-

Aloha: *wheezing* tHAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH HAHAHAHA

Army: *calmly and quietly leaves the room*

Mask: *crying inside*

Aloha: *laughing his ass off*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will never do an actual story about this-


	25. Water Fountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An idea that I can either make Coroika (projecting onto Mask go brrr) or my OC Sawyer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNINGS**  
> Sexual stuffs  
> \- underage  
> \- sorta non-consensual (i dunno how to explain it)  
> \- just not good stuffs  
> On purpose misgendering (sorta explain it)
> 
> If I were to just project onto Mask this could shed some light on the "It's Okay" fanfic since it bridges the stories
> 
> Section 1 is Mask and Section 2 is Sawyer

Based on the song "Water Fountain"  
\- Mask is FTM and Sawyer is FTNB  
\- Whenever the lyrics reference "She" it means Mask/Sawyer and they were "singing it" in a way to detach themselves from their past selves  
\- Both characters are looking back at their past selves ("I was too young")  
\- only using certain lyrics

Section 1:

"It's getting kind of blurry at a quarter-past-ten  
And he was in a hurry to be touching her skin"

Mask took a deep breath as he was in a familiar room. Geez, he never realized how messy everything was. The cyan inkling gripped the sleeve of his shirt as the door opened revealing himself from before he cut his hair, and... right. The green inkling wasn't necessarily a bad partner it was just... yeah. Mask could smell the hormones in the room and gagged.

"She's feeling kind of dirty when she's dancing with him  
Forgetting what she told me by the water fountain."

Mask growled as he remembered the countless promises the idiot inkling made to herself only for each date or "hangout" to end the same way. She seemed to already forget how many hours in the shower she spends scraping off his touch with her loofa. Dumbass.

"Now he's grabbing her hips, and pulling her in  
Kissing her lips, and whispering in her ear  
And she knows that she shouldn't listen."

Mask started tearing up as the two made out in front of him. Obviously she wasn't aware of the damage that was being done to her brain. The green inkling leaned down to her ear and whispered all the things he could do to her. Mask screamed at her to just put a stop to all this, but to no avail. This was just a dumb memory from a body that was long in the past. Mask felt a pang in his heart and dropped to his knees. Stupid heart pains.

"And that she should be with me by the water fountain  
She couldn't be at home in the night time because  
It made her feel alone, but at that time she was too young"

The scenery changed, and he was at his dad's house. She was sitting in her bed with her knees up to her chest, crying waves of tears and screaming at the darkness without a voice. Her skin was blotched with red patches from irritation. She was angry at herself, yet still glad it didn't get too far to the point both inklings' innocence were gone. 

"I was too young  
I should've built a home with a fountain for us  
The moment that she told me that she was in love too young  
I was too young"

Mask watched her, tears streaming down his face as he knew her torture would end soon while his would begin. He walked over to her shaking body and traced her neck with his hand. He could faintly see the outline of a hand, and a hickey on her neck. He remembered the green inkling would get frustrated she didn't bruise as easily as he did. Mask was grateful for it. 

"Too young, too young  
Too young, young"

Of course, it would take around a year or so before he knew the hormones would be put in check. His kinks and other stuff were still programmed into his brain, but he would never feel comfortable acting upon them. The only thing he did was shibari, but as a trust exercise thing. Mask felt himself back at his apartment and sat up, looking at his digital clock. 10:25 PM. He should probably go to the water fountain.

\- Sawyer's section is different compared to Mask's since it involves non-consensual and "grooming"  
Section 2:

"It's getting kind of blurry at a quarter-past-ten  
And he was in a hurry to be touching her skin"

Sawyer was in a panic. They were frozen in place as they observed the room they were in, frantically looking in all directions for an exit. They didn't want to be here. The door on the other side of the room opened. Oh no. The couple danced into the room, the orange inkling giggling as her boyfriend spun her in a circle, leading her to the bed. Letting caution to the wind, Sawyer yelled for her to get out of there. But she couldn't hear them. In an act of desperation, Sawyer threw themselves at the two in hopes of breaking them apart. They fell through. Sawyer watched in pure terror as Derek laid the inkling girl on the bed.

"She's feeling kind of dirty when she's dancing with him  
Forgetting what she told me by the water fountain"

"Now he's grabbing her hips, and pulling her in  
Kissing her lips, and whispering in her ear  
And she knows that she shouldn't listen"

"And that she should be with me by the water fountain  
She couldn't be at home in the night time because  
It made her feel alone, but at that time she was too young"

"I was too young  
I should've built a home with a fountain for us  
The moment that she told me that she was in love too young  
I was too young"

"Too young, too young  
Too young, young"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mnot gonna finish this because... yeah it just hurts too much to think about
> 
> Especially Sawyer’s


	26. Run Scuba Run-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children this is why we don't make sex jokes when Mask can't walk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by the fact I did the same thing today because angy go brrrr and I almost fell lmao

Mask: *struggling to walk to the table* alriiight girls, while we are waaaiting for Desi, any battle straaategies for our challeeenges?

Full Moon: *hands him an icepack and pushes up her glasses* mhm! so I was thinking of creating some sort of 4 person circle, kind of what x blood does, but instead, with _sub weapons_

Mask: *puts icepack on his thigh* sounds liiike a good plaaan, but I feel like peeeople would noootice the resemblance right awaaay

Jersey: Oh! I got it! so we can still do your plan Moon, but we do it like thi-

Desi: Hewo! Sowy I took so wong...

Mask: It's fiiine Desi, take a seeeat

Scubi: Alright babe, remember Avi is cookin dinner tonight, so bring back leftovers from where ever you guys eat and- woah Mask what's up with the pack?

Mask: Oh... uh... caaan't walk...

Scuba, smirking: ya'll do it too hard last night?

Mask, visible annoyed: ...

Desi, desperately wanting his boyfriend alive: Scuba, you should go make sure Avi didn't burn the house down

Scuba: *takes a seat* nah, wanna hear the story

Jersey: oh dear...

Desi: *face palms*

Mask: Weeell Scuba, as you knooow I get aaangry a looot and wanna knooow what happens when I'm aaangry?

Scuba, slowly realizin he mightve fucked up: N-nah Mask, alls goo-

(hc: Mask loses the drawn out speak when he's **PISSED**

Mask: Haha, no. You don't get off that easily. This *stands up and pulls up part of shorts* happens when I'm angry

Scuba: ...holy shit...

Mask: exactly, so you best get your face outta my sight before this *points to bruises* happens to your fucking face.

Scuba: y-yep! got it boss! *scuba out*

Mask: Nooow, *sits back down* where were weee?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no rompas mas, mi pobre corazon .w.
> 
> don't tell my heart, my achy breaky heart .w. 
> 
> sorry I got both the spanish and english song stuck in my damn head-


	27. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here you go Mask

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm fine. I promise.

"I was holding the man who had done my dad wrong while my dad got in the car. The car exploded in front of my eyes and I watched as my dad stumbled out of the car screaming in agony as he burned alive in front of me. After that I tried telling everyone that he died, and they either didn't care or didn't believe me. Can you believe that? They didn't believe that my father died in front of me. I heard his screams. I screamed to family members that he was dead until I lost my voice and eventually I just took my own life. It's whatever though."

They all looked at him with horrified faces as he just shrugged it off, seemingly as if he just didn't see the life of his dad burning alive in front of him.

"Are you okay?"

"Who gives a fuck? It was just a dream anyways. It's not like he was calling to me with his last dying breathes are he burned away into ash."

But they saw the tears prick at his eyes.

They knew it was too real to have been just a dream.


	28. Angst idea or something idk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poly S4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _dumps shit on mask_
> 
> Anywaaaay-

“I’m sorry if I’m in love with three idiots because the bar is so fucking low that the minute they never mentioned how hot my body was or anything regarding it I fell head first bECAUSE FUCKING DAMN IT THATS ALL THE OTHERS WOULD TALK ABOUT.”

He threw his gas mask down and she felt her glasses slightly fall down her nose.

“NO ONES EVERY FELL IN LOVE WITH THIS FUCKING TERRIBLE PERSONALITY OF MINE AND... and... the world is going to shit and I fucking hate marriage so much... it terrifies me Moon...”

“You are your commitment issues...”

“But I’m trying... I’m trying really hard... I know Army might want a wedding... and I want to be able to make it happen...”

She picked up the gas mask, one of the sockets shattered, and give it back to him. He looked at the mask in his hands.

“I just don’t know what to do...”

“Fucking cry.”

“...thanks dick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor idea Poot explanation


	29. Imposter Syndrome

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vinperor
> 
> Vintage’s imposter syndrome goes brrrrr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mask: _pats Vintage’s shoulder_ good luck buddy
> 
> Vintage: wait what-
> 
> Me: haha _dumps imposter syndrome on him_
> 
> Vintage: what the fu-

“ITS ALL A FUCKING JOKE”

Emperor dodged another object that was thrown in his direction. He maintained a calm composure about it all, but was concerned since this was the fourth outburst in two days.

“What’s a joke, dear?”

Of course he already knew the answer, but he was trying to get through to the other. The two toned inkling was in absolute hysterics and he needed to see reason.

“THE RANKS THE TURF THE EVERYTHING! A JOKE A JOKE A JOKE!”

More objects were thrown, pushed off, or used to slam one another. The room was a hurricane to say the least, but Emperor didn’t make a fuss about it. This was Vintage after all.

“ALL THE HARD WORK AND FOR WHAT?! NOT BEING ABLE TO WIN A SINGLE MATCH?!”

Emperor’s eyes softened. If only he didn’t offer Vintage a chance to actually experience a turf war, none of this would have happened. The golden inkling ser and hugged the red-cyan inkling. He felt small fists hit his back. The bruising will be worth it later.

“LET GO OF ME! LET GO LET GO LET GO!”

His heart was breaking in two as he felt tears dampen his shirt. To get Vintage to break stoic shell was... an amazing feat. And here Emperor was, breaking it for all the wrong reasons. Emperor hugged tighter.

“Let me go... let me me...”

Vintage violently shook in the monarch’s arms, repeatedly using his own arms to wipe the tears. Emperor softly pet his boyfriend’s head, occasionally kissing the top softly. Vintage was messing with his ears now, trying to block them in a strange way.

“I don’t deserve my ranks... Not if I can’t manage an easy task such as inking turf... I didn’t make it up there by myself... I’m always getting carried every game... I’m not the strongest I’m not the best I’m not-“

“Shhh... hush... I’ve watched your games, and it seems it’s the other way around on that ranked field. It’s all you. Who cares if you aren’t great at turf war?”

“I thought my turf skills were a joke, but if they were I’d be X rank already.”

Emperor’s ear twitched and his eyes widened.

“What?”

“...”

Emperor pulled away slightly, Vintage avoiding eye contact.

“That’s... what one girl said after a match.. and maybe she’s right. If the top players who constantly dominate the world of ranked, but can’t do simple tasks like inking... can anyone really be proud to bear the X? I mean- that must be it, right? Skull’s still an S+ ranker and even he is stronger than me... and you‘ve seen Goggles, his ability can‘t be measured by rank. The ranking system is useless.”

Vintage’s eyes welled up with tears again.

”Vin,” Emperor tried.

”Useless just like me...”

Right then, something clicked in Emperor.

”Vin?”

”What...?”

”Do you have... imposter syndrome...?”

”I don‘t know what that is Emp...”

”It’s when someone doubts themselves. What they have achieved along with their skills and talents. It makes them feel like a fraud. There’s different types of course, but you fit the general description.”

Vintage stayed quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So after writing this I took a test to see what type I was because I know I have this, but instead of telling me the type tHe WEBSITE LITERALLY JUST CALLED ME OUT-
> 
> here here:  
>  _“No matter what you manage to accomplish, you are unable to enjoy your success. You see yourself as an imposter and fear that eventually - especially if you make a mistake or fail - people will discover that you are actually incompetent. This could be related to a lack of confidence, a tendency to believe that success is due to factors that you cannot control (like luck), or a fear that you will be unable to sustain it and thus, lose people's respect. You find it difficult, if not impossible, to take ownership of your achievements, and experience a great deal of self-doubt and self-denigration.”_
> 
> I DID NOT DESERVE THIS KIND OF CALL OUT- lel-
> 
> Edit: I’m a perfectionist


	30. Uh idk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mask finds an old writing while cleaning.
> 
> And it's hilarious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I should be hurrying up because I have to clean my room, shower, and finish something for school. But c'mon I was wheezing so hard I had to quickly do something about it.

Mask started stacking papers, not really sure what to make of anything. He patted his tentacles that were going dry from how long it's been since he showered. How long has it been exactly? He could only guess a couple weeks, a month probably. It was disgusting, but when you're too lazy to do relatively anything it's kind of the lifestyle one lives. He picked up the green notebook and flipped through it, softly snickering at the crude drawings in it. In confusion, he stopped at a page that contained writing, or what should be writing. At least he can say his handwriting had improved over the years. Shrugging, he read it:

"At fiiirst we were best friiiends then you told some liiies... oh yeah...? What the fuuu... o h... right Just Give Me A Reasooon... so cringeeey... ahem... I thooought I could truuust you, big mistaaake. I thought weee were friends. You said I liiiked you. Well, I diiidn't so yeah... pfft- shuuut up... What did I dooo wrong? Nooothin little me, you diiid nothing wrong... To make yooou this way... a peeervert... you were liiiterally nice to hiiim and it tiiickled his little incel diiick, so not your fauuult he gets off to the gooolden rule. We maaade up, became friends, at my biiirthday I just wanted to be friiiends. I have someooone else for me... He's sweet and kiiind, but there's one proooblem. He's a-PFFT- HAHAHA- OH MY COD- A CARTOON- I- NOOOO- HAHA- ahhh this is great. Cooomedy gold. For-FORBIDDEN LOVE- NO N O- I CAN'T HOLY SHIT HAHA-"

Wheezing and seemingly going out of his mind, Mask put the notebook away shaking his head. He continued putting his stuff away, so he could finally shower. 

Ah... the innocence of a dumb 5th grader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay gotta speed clean-


	31. you... you w h a t?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poly S4 implied
> 
> Stupid shit post thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. I just thought it was funny.

Some random girl: you’re a fucking whore

Aloha: nu uh! We haven’t had sex!

Skull: what the fuck is sex

Mask: I literally can’t feel anything down there

Army: ye- wait whAT-

Everyone looking at Mask.

Mask: pleasure go bye bye

Aloha: are- are you okay...?

Mask, walking away: I miss havin sex, but at least I don’t wanna die ♪

The rest of the S4 chasing him: mASK WHAT THE FUCK IS ANYTHING YOU SAID SUPPOSED TO MEAN

Girl: uhh... what the fuck just happened-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Laughs because no one is gonna get this stupid joke because it’s a personal thing_
> 
> Listen I’m just copin-


	32. Wish You Were Gay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skull x Army

Skull stared at the ceiling with a blank look. Was it because he was too much of an asshole? He didn’t mean to, it all just... poured out. It didn’t matter now, he just wanted to claw out his throat.

He turned to the side and for a second imagined Army next to him. The inkling’s smile was enough to make him melt inside. Heart eyes and all. Skull’s slight smile faltered as the Army thought vanished.

Aviator warned him, too bad Skull was bad at listening. Or maybe he just didn’t want to. Either way, Avi told him to watch out. Heart pains are definitely the worst.

‘Why does he have to be right about everything...?’

Skull wanted to burst out crying, but he had to save face. He was at his aunt’s house after all. Then again all he ever did is mess up everything. His skin felt itchy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna drop this with no context and leave


	33. Blurred Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bobble x Red Sole

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was from Nov. 24 and I just never finished it because I didn't see the need to.
> 
> Well I guess I wasn't sure how to continue it so it's just four measly paragraphs.

There was always a rush to be in love. 

At least, that’s what Bobble saw in the world around her. There’s always those kids who start holding hands and kiss each other. She didn’t understand it. She didn’t understand the need or want, didn’t everyone love each other enough? 

So she treated everyone the same. Maybe if she gave everyone equal amounts of love it’d fill everything she needed to understand why someone would want more. Of course, she was thrown into relationships she didn’t understand. Why was holding a boy’s hand different than holding a girl’s hand?

The attention was nice at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _stares at two people holding hands and are obviously more than friends_
> 
> My dumbass: awe look at those two good friends! oh- oh shit they're dating? I literally would have never guessed.


End file.
